2021 saw an infusion of much-needed federal stimulus dollars as well as record-setting endowment growth. Unfortunately, a fall enrollment dip and other cost pressures have kept most university leaders scrambling to achieve financial sustainability. EAB’s Jeff Martin and Scott Winslow review fall 2021 enrollment figures, possible opportunities for cost-cutting, as well as potential sources of revenue growth. They also explore the gap between hype and reality in terms of the impact of endowment gr...
Nov 02, 2021•28 min
Many institutions adopted test-optional admissions policies out of necessity in the early days of the pandemic. EAB’s Madeleine Rhyneer, an expert with more than 25 years of experience leading university admissions teams, says those hastily constructed policies are well-intentioned, but many are poorly defined. She and fellow EAB enrollment guru Michael Koppenheffer discuss different sides of the debate over the value of standardized test scores as well as the challenge of comparing apples to ap...
Oct 26, 2021•30 min
University CIOs are on the front lines of a battle to liberate and leverage data trapped in siloed IT systems that have grown like weeds across college campuses over the past 30 years. Susquehanna University CIO Jennifer Servedio talks to EAB’s Danielle Yardy about how to bring order to this chaos through a more enlightened technology strategy, and how to gain buy-in among key campus stakeholders to approve the associated costs. Ms. Servedio also shares her top pieces of advice on how to priorit...
Oct 19, 2021•30 min
EAB’s Amy Luitjens and Will Lamb dig into our latest survey of adult learners to find out how their plans were impacted by the pandemic and to understand their current preferences and motivations. The survey findings suggest that schools will need to hone their recruitment and retention strategies to make any headway in a graduate education market that appears to be losing steam. Amy and Will offer a number of recommendations including beefing up online support services and clearly articulating ...
Oct 12, 2021•32 min
Southern New Hampshire University President Dr. Paul LeBlanc has written a new book, “Students First,” centered on the idea that time is the ultimate scarcity, the lack of which prevents far too many students from achieving their educational goals. Going further, Dr. LeBlanc explains why the credit hour concept may have outlived its usefulness and why competency-based educational curricula deserve a fresh look. Dr. LeBlanc also shares with EAB’s Sally Amoruso, reasons why the growth of short-for...
Oct 05, 2021•52 min
EAB’s Hersh Steinberg sits down for a wide-ranging conversation with Saint Leo President Dr. Jeffrey Senese. The two discuss Saint Leo’s pending acquisition of Marymount California University, currently awaiting regulatory approval, and explore why Dr. Senese’s business acumen and growth mindset perfectly fit Saint Leo’s mission. They also review key moments in Dr. Senese’s journey to higher ed leadership, particularly the influence of a former boss and mentor whose training as a business PhD in...
Sep 28, 2021•35 min
EAB’s Madeleine Rhyneer and Michael Koppenheffer discuss findings from a new EAB research effort and a related paper titled, “Recruiting in an Era of Channel Overload: How to Optimize Your Audience Strategy to Achieve Enrollment Success.” They highlight valuable but lesser-known sources of data on prospective students, as well as ways that virtual tours and other online recruiting tools are creating new opportunities to engage and build affinity with those students. Michael and Madeleine also ex...
Sep 21, 2021•37 min
EAB’s Amy Luitjens is joined by Brian Gallini, Dean of the Willamette University College of Law, for a discussion on the state of U.S. law schools and attorney licensing. The two touch on everything from the lack of transparency in law school admissions, to pandemic impacts on legal education, to the perennial question of how to standardize and update licensure across the U.S. legal profession.
Sep 14, 2021•36 min
EAB’s Jackson Nell is joined by LSU Vice President of Online & Continuing Education, Sasha Thackaberry, to discuss the rapid growth of alternative online providers. These for-profit entities, including Coursera, Guild, Udacity, even Google, offer everything from certificates to micro-credentials to full degrees, either in partnership with or independently from colleges and universities. Thackaberry explains why collaboration between these online upstarts and traditional higher education inst...
Sep 07, 2021•37 min
Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (or HEERF) appropriated through three separate laws by the federal government over the past year and a half represent the largest combined federal investment in higher education in our nation’s history. Schools have been slow to distribute more recent allocations (HEERF II and III) for a number of reasons. EAB’s Danielle Yardy and Jackson Nell explore some of the obstacles and share advice for university leaders on ways to prioritize spending to build a mo...
Aug 31, 2021•35 min
EAB’s Larisa Hussak and Brian Schueler urge university leaders to parse the data to better understand local market trends impacting your recruiting efforts. The chances are you are losing far more prospective students to other institutions in your state and region than you are to demographic shifts. Larissa and Brian suggest re-focusing your recruiting strategy around highlighting the quality of the student experience and the value of your institution to in-state applicants. Remember, it is near...
Aug 24, 2021•34 min
EAB’s Anna Masica is joined by Wellesley College Dean of Admission Jessica Ricker to discuss a growing challenge for enrollment professionals everywhere, how to boost yield in a digital-first world. The two explore ways to blend the best of traditional, face-to-face recruiting events with newer alternatives like virtual tours and digital welcome centers that enable many more applicants to have authentic and meaningful exchanges with university leaders and current students. Finally, they urge adm...
Aug 17, 2021•34 min
EAB’s Kaitlyn Maloney and Jackson Nell examine the higher education market to determine whether there is an oversupply of providers relative to the number of consumers who want a college degree. Their team has examined decades’ worth of M&A deals to highlight trends in consolidation activity, motivations among buyers and those being acquired, and types of partnerships that offer advantages over outright mergers. They also offer tips for institutions looking for partners to stave off closure ...
Aug 10, 2021•34 min
EAB’s Kathy Ruby and Sarah Le Duc review the basics of financial aid optimization and explain why FAO is more important than ever to helping colleges meet enrollment targets. The two examine the real-world impacts schools should prepare for when the FAFSA Simplification Act is enacted in 2024. They also offer tips to help financial aid offices work with campus leaders to begin preparing now and to communicate with families of prospective applicants who are already asking questions about what the...
Aug 03, 2021•31 min
EAB experts Amy Luitjens and Ed Venit examine how colleges and universities are working to better support and guide graduate students toward achieving their educational goals. They point out that today’s graduate students are more diverse, taking on more debt, and have higher expectations for how they want institutions to serve them. Given current market trends, Amy and Ed suggest it is in a university’s financial self-interest to change and do more to help these students succeed.
Jul 27, 2021•33 min
EAB’s Michael Fischer and Michael Varda examine key takeaways from a survey of HR Officers from colleges and universities across the US, Canada, and the UK. Among the biggest concerns expressed by survey respondents was how to develop remote work policies that are equitable, and how to guide managers in monitoring the performance of remote workers. They note that nearly half of HR leaders appear willing to take on additional tax and regulatory complications in order to recruit from a broader tal...
Jul 20, 2021•34 min
Summer melt is a challenge that every admissions team understands and works hard to address, even during the best of times. With in-person orientation and other large gatherings still limited at many colleges, this summer will prove exceptionally challenging. Enrollment leaders from Robert Morris University and the University of Louisville join EAB’s Madeleine Rhyneer to talk about what they learned during last summer’s campus closures. They also share strategies for engaging students and famili...
Jul 13, 2021•41 min
EAB’s Ann Lippens and Kaitlyn Maloney discuss the steps that colleges and universities are taking now to welcome students and faculty back to campus this fall. While higher ed leaders are still working out the details of a safe return, including vaccination requirements, they are also thinking about how to use campus facilities in different ways to accommodate safety protocols as well as other considerations. Ann and Kaitlyn say this isn’t just an exercise in space planning though. Schools are l...
Jun 22, 2021•23 min
Thanks to the pandemic, most universities are preparing to welcome two years’ worth of campus newcomers this fall. Add to that the stressors resulting from months of political and social unrest as well as elevated health and financial concerns that threaten to leave schools facing a perfect storm of mental health challenges when campuses reopen. EAB’s Hailey Badger and Kate Cudé share findings from their research into how colleges and universities are preparing. They point to the surprising succ...
Jun 15, 2021•22 min
Wisr co-founder and CEO Kate Volzer is joined by Dr. Angela Clark-Taylor, Director of the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women at Case Western Reserve University. The two talk about their chance meeting in 2019 and the work they’ve done together since to support and empower women working in higher ed. Dr. Clark-Taylor shares actionable advice derived from her research on gender equity. Both offer insights they’ve collected through their work leading professional development conferences and webina...
Jun 08, 2021•32 min
EAB’s Chief Partner Officer, Sally Amoruso, is joined by Brian Elliot, the head of the Future Forum, a consortium launched by Slack to help companies reimagine work in the new digital-first world. The two discuss key takeaways from a recent virtual gathering of more than 125 university leaders EAB hosted to explore the future of work on college campuses. They share tips on ways to offer campus workers greater flexibility, a change that will be critical to schools looking to attract and retain ta...
Jun 01, 2021•35 min
EAB’s Kathy Dawley and Brett Schraeder discuss the significance of National College Decision Day and share initial thoughts on successful strategies colleges are using to meet enrollment targets during one of the most challenging recruiting cycles of all time. They stress the importance of virtual engagement with admits as a means of reducing summer melt. Kathy and Brett also share findings from EAB’s most recent survey of more than 15,000 high school students and break down the implications of ...
May 25, 2021•35 min
Enrollment at for-profit colleges has increased or remained flat, while enrollment at community colleges is down nearly 10 percent since the onset of the pandemic. EAB’s Christina Hubbard and Larisa Hussak share key takeaways from a recent “secret shopping” experience with for-profit institutions and explain their applicability to community colleges. They talk about the dos and don’ts of onboarding, a perennial pain point at two-year schools, and urge community college leaders to assume greater ...
May 04, 2021•29 min
EAB’s Danielle Yardy and Anushka Mehta unpack the meaning of “digital transformation” and its relevance for higher education. They argue that the key drivers of digital transformation should be to streamline operations and improve the student experience. They also offer tips to generate the biggest bang for your IT bucks and spur wider and quicker adoption of new technologies across campus.
Apr 27, 2021•34 min
EAB’s Kaitlyn Maloney returns to the podcast to moderate a discussion with her colleagues Jackson Nell and Kathy Ruby on what the American Rescue Plan means for higher education. The three talk about what we’ve learned from previous federal stimulus bills that might help schools begin to chart a path forward, even as we wait for much-needed guidance from the Department of Education. They urge university leaders to view this as their last and best opportunity to put their financial houses in orde...
Apr 20, 2021•32 min
EAB’s Meacie Fairfax returns to the podcast for a conversation with College Possible CEO Craig Robinson. The two discuss the power of community partnerships in giving underserved students greater access to higher education and stronger pathways to successful careers. Mr. Robinson suggests that colleges must be willing to change their mindset in order to serve their students and their communities more effectively. Embracing the challenge of joining with community partners who offer complementary ...
Apr 13, 2021•35 min
EAB’s Carla Hickman and Colin Koproske have been working together and studying the phenomenon of massive open online courses, or MOOCs, since 2012. On today’s episode, the two discuss Coursera’s recent IPO-related financial filings. Carla and Colin also examine the extent to which MOOCs and the companies that provide them represent a threat to higher ed, or whether more colleges should be looking to partner with companies like Coursera to expand their online course offerings.
Apr 06, 2021•38 min
College enrollment dipped this past fall as most people expected. However, the decline was not equally distributed across all demographic cohorts or types of institutions. Journalist Jon Marcus joins EAB’s Madeleine Rhyneer to examine the data which show surprising enrollment trends that have not received the media attention they deserve. The two discuss ways that college recruiting has changed forever as a result of the pandemic, and they explain why doing “more of the same” isn’t going to work...
Mar 30, 2021•34 min
EAB’s Kaitlyn Maloney and Ron Yanosky discuss what we’ve learned over the past year through our collective experiment in mass teleworking. They then dig into some of the unique challenges colleges and universities face as they explore more flexible approaches to space utilization, hiring, and HR policies. While a few best practices emerging from the private sector can easily be replicated across higher education, universities will need to get creative in order to adapt without losing the sense o...
Mar 23, 2021•31 min
EAB’s Jeff Martin is joined by Penn State University Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations Richard Bundy. The two talk about the state of university fundraising and key takeaways from EAB’s latest survey of college fundraising professionals. Mr. Bundy provides insight into how his team shifted strategy and tactics to adapt to an entirely virtual fundraising environment. Finally, the two share tips for managing fundraising teams and gift proposals both today and in the months ahead a...
Mar 16, 2021•34 min
